Protecting the environment at Katjes

For the sake of our environment, we are constantly enhancing our production processes and doing our bit to help protect resources. We measure statistics including our electricity and water consumption at various stages in the production process and weigh our waste on site. After all, we can only act sustainably and continue to improve in future if we are monitoring the situation.

Climate and energy

Home-made products don’t just taste good – they're energy-efficient, too! We generate a large part of the electricity and heat we need for production ourselves in our state-of-the-art thermal power plant in Emmerich. The rest of our power is 100% green energy, purely from hydroelectricity.
By switching to green energy, we managed to reduce our carbon footprint by 28% between 2012 and 2016, according to expert calculations in a brief climate assessment. This is a step towards our climate goal: a reduction in CO2 emissions of 35% by 2022, and 45% by 2030. In order to achieve these goals, however, further action needs to be taken. This includes bigger investments in energy-efficient machinery and systems, as well as smaller steps, of course, such as replacing old, broken light bulbs with efficient LED lighting.

The environment also prefers it veggie jes jes jes! Producing our vegetarian Grün-Ohr Bärchen creates around 20% less harmful emissions such as CO2 and methane than producing fruit gummy bears containing gelatine.
This is particularly important to us, as environmental responsibility and protecting our natural world is something that is close to our heart.

Making a splash for the environment!

As clean water is a valuable resource, we closely examine our water consumption on an ongoing basis – with great results. In 2017, we used 14% less water per tonne produced than in 2014. After all, as everyone in the business knows: every drop counts! Our aim is to save another 12% of water by 2022 in comparison to 2017.

Packaging and waste

As our packaging has to meet high quality and hygiene standards, it is made from plastic. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no sustainable, lasting, safe and economically viable alternative for us. We therefore recommend recycling our bags, disposing of them with plastic waste. That’s why all our Katjes packaging carries a Grüner Punkt logo. So they become part of the recycling loop, giving them a new purpose and reducing their impact on the climate and environment to a minimum.

Together with suppliers, Katjes has managed to reduce the use of stretch film used to wrap deliveries by 50% since 2013. We are working to reduce this even further! And in our break room, you will also find new reusable metal bottles for our employees, rather than single-use drinking cups – resulting in a dramatic reduction in plastic waste, a whole 144,000 cups every year!
Overall, we have set ourselves the goal of having to dispose of 10% less waste by 2022 than in 2017.

Yay! 100% of our Katjes boxes are made from FSC®-certified material! For the materials used to make them, fair and responsible treatment of people and nature is guaranteed. Even when buying office materials, we make sure that the paper and cardboard comes from sustainable sources.

Sustainability isn’t just important to us when it comes to the environment. As a family company, we also take our social responsibility very seriously.